I have a lease vehicle that has 1 bad brake pad and rotor on rear pass.

At 16,000 I could hear noise from this corner and took in for service

Was told no warranty issues

Now at 22000 I have bad grinding

Dropped it off again and was told I am responsible for brake service on a leased car. One edge of pad got stuck and left a gouge. Needs new pads and rotors to fix

I can not believe this. Never had to pay for service on a lease let alone brakes where 3 brakes are still mint. Wear and tear on brakes should mean all brakes are worn. If one corner is bad and 3 are good Issue is not my fault

Any suggestions to deal with Ford

 

#1 Ask the dealer to show you in the lease contract where it says the factory warranty doesn't cover defective brakes. If only one wheel is bad it is a defect, not wear and tear.


#2 Call the Ford zone rep.

 

Well I had no luck with the dealer. They said that the sticking pad was from dirt on the pad slides, and Ford will not pay them to replace the parts when I fail to wash the car.

What a bunch of crap. If I do not wash a car for the 2 year lease, my expectation is it will still run just fine and not cost me a dime in service repairs. I never signed a contract to keep the car clean like I had to sign to change oil 3-4 times over the lease.

Next step is to talk to Ford direct & see if I can turn in the car 6 months early

 

Hope you don't live in an area that gets snow in the winter like I do. Then they salt the roads. And all these years I didn't know that I had to wash my brakes after each use. Last time I looked, Ford was advertising the Explorer as a sport UTILITY vehicle. And the brakes have to be kept clean? I guess I missed that paragraph in the owner's manual.


My experience has been that the Ford Customer Service rep's at ford.com are pretty decent. Send an email. Present the facts clearly, don't rant and rave, just tell your story and if you have any documentation from the dealer tell them about it. See what happens.


It goes without saying that you should find another dealer for future leases and purchases.

 

I talked with the zone manager that today who said he could not help

Why
1-I did not have my oil changed at Ford and the places I used did not do required maintainance to brakes
2-He has no ability to override the warranty policy Ford has in place
3-He can ask the dealer to cut their labor rate to meet me in midle. No thanks overpriced parts and labor at 50% off is no deal

This will be my last Ford. When I lease my expectation as a consumer is bumper to bumper includes everything but a standard oil change.

I tried the stay loyal given Ford did not take bailout money but no more.

A trip to the Junk yard and then turn the car back to Ford so they can sell the defect to someone else

 

Sorry to see it's bothering you so much.... and suspect yours is an anomaly as our 13 sport still has the original brakes @ 70k miles and it's my wife's car !!!!

brakes and tires are a 'wear item' and in the DFW area they advertise $99 per wheel brake jobs...
Sometimes it's best just to fix and move on to real problems in our lives.

My cars brakes last a very long time,
my wife's, not so much!
I gauge stops ahead and slow down or use the gearing/exhaust brake to stop...
my wife accelerates to the stopping point and slams on the brakes !
too many sports cars in her youth, I guess...

I've traded in 100k mile trucks that never had brake jobs, and hers has been changed in less than 20k miles ! so yes, I drive when we are together !!! good luck !

 

My 2014 Fiesta is pretty much guaranteed to need brakes before I turn it in in January. I am severe service (95% city driving, average speed on the car is 23mph), and the rear drums are so small and useless the front discs do everything. I'm 3/4 through the pads at my last oil change at 21.5K miles, I'm at 25.8K now.

I'm not surprised it's not covered. Any grinds noises are supposed to be cared for immediately, and as long as you did that, you would have documentation showing it was inspected, and have some leverage with Ford. But typing seized caliper slides will give you hundreds of forum threads of people being denied for this sort of thing. You should even have free towing with your vehicle. Anytime the vehicle goes in for oil it should be getting an inspection of brakes and those things. This is why if you don't do service yourself, you don't use the cheapest possible item.

The car is a tool. Just because it is new doesn't mean you don't bare some responsibility in caring for it and maintaining it. The downfall of leases means they require MORE maintenance and repair (any small body damage ect) compared to purchases. People that want to slack of on maintenance need to purchase. Helps protect the next person from inheriting crappily maintained cars.

 

So I took it to a independent shop and they showed me calipers are 100% frozen.

This means Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor Michigan is 100% lying about the issue.

High probability they never took off the caliper to test it.

If a seized caliper is not a warranty item, Ford can have this vehicle back.

I am A plan Ford and own a f150 and f250, but it is not worth the frustration 1) to have an issue at 18 k and 2) to deal with an ongoing issue that should have been fixed 6 months back 3) to get bad gas millage over the last 6 months 4) to pay someone else to give me evidence ford service techs are outright liars.

Shame on you Ford...

 

So dealer fixed the caliber then wanted $200 for the brakes and rotor.

No way I am paying their overpriced labor and parts.

Still disappointed I had to dump $100 into a lease.

The caliper slides are behind a rubber grommet.

If the grease doesn't hold up for 18k miles, Ford is using the wrong Greece.

As a customer there is no way to fight a defect, so Ford has no incentive to put a couple more pennies into a better quality Greece.

6 months and my lease is up and looking for an early buyout...

Thank goodness I did not purchase